Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Honored Guests at 14th Annual Austin Film Festival...

Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award: Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone, born in New York, has directed: World Trade Center, Alexander, Any Given Sunday, U-Turn, Nixon, Natural Born Killers, Heaven and Earth, JFK, The Doors, Born On The Fourth Of July, Talk Radio, Wall Street, Platoon, Salvador, The Hand and Seizure. He's written or co-written all of the above, with the exception of U-Turn and World Trade Center and has also written or co-written: Midnight Express, Scarface, Conan The Barbarian, Year Of The Dragon, Evita, and 8 Million Ways To Die.

He's produced or co-produced: The People vs. Larry Flynt, The Joy Luck Club, Reversal of Fortune, Savior, Freeway, South Central, Zebrahead, Blue Steel, and the ABC mini-series Wild Palms. An Emmy was given to him and his co-producer for the HBO film Indictment: The McMartin Trial, and he was nominated for the documentary The Last Days of Kennedy and King.

Stone has won Oscars for directing Born On The Fourth Of July and Platoon, and for writing Midnight Express. He was nominated for director (JFK) and co-writer (Nixon). He's also received three Golden Globes for directing (Platoon, Born On The Fourth Of July and JFK), one for writing (Midnight Express).

Prior to his film career, Stone worked as a school teacher in Vietnam, a Merchant Marine sailor, taxi driver, messenger, production assistant, and sales representative. He served in the U.S. Army Infantry in Vietnam in 1967-68. He was wounded twice and decorated with the Bronze Star for Valor. After returning from Vietnam, he completed his undergraduate studies at New York University Film School in 1971.

Distinguished Screenwriter Award: John Milius

Austin Film Festival is proud to announce John Milius as the recipient of the 2007 Distinguished Screenwriter Award at this year's Austin Film Festival's Award Luncheon presented by AT&T to be held October 13, 2007.

After winning a National Student Film Festival award while attending USC, John Milius began his studio career under the tutelage of Roger Corman and landed Evel Knievel as his first major writing job.

Nearly a decade and many films later, Milius wrote the screenplay of Apocalypse Now. His other credits include Big Wednesday, Conan The Barbarian, Red Dawn, Clear And Present Danger, The Hunt For Red October, The Wind And The Lion, Farewell To The King, Jerimiah Johnson, Judge Roy Bean, Geronimo and Flight Of The Intruder.

Milius later wrote the teleplay, Rough Riders, through which he was instrumental in causing President Theodore Roosevelt to be posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for acts of conspicuous gallantry on San Juan Hill. An avid gun collector, Milius serves on the NRA's Board of Directors from 1995 to the present.

In the American Film Institute's "100 Years of Film, 100 Movie Quotes", John Milius had two quotes cited; one from Apocalypse Now, the other from Dirty Harry. In the Writer's Guild of America's "101 Greatest Screenplays", Milius' Apocalypse Now is honored as well. Milius has been nominated for three WGA awards; Apocalypse Now, The Wind and the Lion and more recently for HBO's hit TV show Rome.

In 1985 Caron created the groundbreaking television phenomenon “Moonlighting.” The series had a cinematic, stylized feel evocative of 1940’s film-noir that transformed what could have been a formulaic storyline into one of the most successful and inventive series of its time.

Caron’s most recent work is as the creator and executive producer of NBC’s Emmy-winning series “Medium” starring Patricia Arquette. The series is based on the true-life story of psychic medium Alison DuBois who uses her psychic abilities to help law enforcement agencies across the country solve crimes.

“We’re honored to recognize Glenn Gordon Caron’s contribution to television writing,” said Barbara Morgan, Austin Film Festival co-founder and executive director. “He’s developed and worked on some of the most popular and important shows in television history and we’re all eager to learn more about the man behind some of TV’s most memorable characters. We couldn’t be more excited that Mr. Caron will join us in our fourteenth year of celebrating writers and their craft.”

The awards luncheon will be held at the Austin Club on October 13, 2007. Tickets are only available to badge holders, and may be purchased at www.austinfilmfestival.com or by calling 1-800-310-3378.